Power modules of modern inverters are cooled with the aid of an air-cooled or water-cooled cooling body which consists of a readily heat-conducting material, e.g. aluminum. For better heat transfer to the cooling body, a carrier made of copper or other materials is fastened to the cooling body with heat-conducting paste. Soldered onto the carrier is a ceramic material provided on both sides with a copper lamination. Arranged on the side of the copper laminated ceramic material facing away from the carrier are the electronic components of the power module. The thickness of the copper laminated ceramic material is herein dependent primarily on the required dielectric strength. At the same time, the thickness of the copper laminated ceramic material determines the heat transmission in the direction toward the cooling body. This means that the higher the power category of a power module, the more difficult the heat removal in the direction of the cooling body becomes.
A further disadvantage lies therein that the contacting of the individual power modules must be correspondingly large, due to the conductive cooling body, in order to maintain the necessary safety margins. A space-saving compact construction is therefore only realizable with difficulty.